


By Design

by Zarius



Category: Superman (Comics), Superman - All Media Types
Genre: Bendis, DC Comics Rebirth, DC Comics References, Mr. Oz - Freeform, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-11-02 11:50:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20736449
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zarius/pseuds/Zarius
Summary: Jor-El's rebirth was also his redemption (contains spoilers for Superman#15)





	By Design

Clark, Jon, and Kara pierced the sound barrier surrounding the earth en route to re-entry, causing a ferocious thunderclap which captivated various onlookers' attention.

"We made a statement with that one" said Jon.

The three danced across the clouds, circling one another as they made plans for the day

"Right, I'll need to talk to Damian tonight" Jon stated

"I need to drop in on Jeremiah and Eliza" Kara said, concerned for the DEO agents that had looked after her, unaware they had parted company with one another, with worse fates to come.

"I have Leviathan to take care of" Clark replied.

"You sure you don't want me watching your back?" said Jon.

"Your mother and I can handle it" said Clark.

"It sounds like it's a system, I built one up, I could take this down" responded Jon.

"It's not a system, it's a virus, and it's already doing exactly that, destabilizing and shutting off whole organizations, criminal and lawful"

"Has it picked a side?"

"It's not on anybody's side"

"A shade of grey then, just like Grandpa"

"Your grandpa was scarred by what he'd seen in the stars son"

"We ever going to figure out what took him from Krypton and deposited him in the present day? I mean, now he's been sent back, I got to thinking... it's just a thought, it's been nagging at me for the last hour"

"Thinking about what?" Clark asked of his son.

"A thought, about being in the right place, time, I don't think he can just replace his past self in the moment, there could be two Jor-Els positioned there, both at play, both have the opportunity to interact with the other. What if he told him everything? Everything before that force took him away? Before he was brainwashed to commit those atrocities on Earth?

About what you did, what I did, what we all achieved...so when he broke free of his brainwashing, it gave him a purpose, an insight, so he came to us, you, me, mom, proposed we travel with him...and led me into the dangers that separated me from him, where I spent years under fire from those jerk-off versions of you and mom, until he came back for me, all too conveniently, as if he was waiting for me to be of the right age, the right mentality, to arrange our reunion and position us where we needed to be...to bring the planets together, to stop Zarr...what if he realised he had to do all of that, based off anything his future self might have told him? Dad, Cousin...what if his rebirth was also his redemption?"

"Too much television" noted Kara.

"Grandpa did know how to spoil me" Jon remarked.

Clark was impressed with the degree of thought Jon had put into his hypothesis, it had been a trying few days, but this was a notion that made him feel prouder of his father, enough to perhaps forgive him for stealing away Jon's years, though not his innocence.

Perhaps it was this innocent perspective that comforted Jon, perhaps it was his way of coping with the fantastic, bewildering, almost harrowing experiences that had befallen him out here in the galaxy, the situations that had been preparing him,

What if it was not by chance, but by design?

It was comforting, and perhaps equally as frightening, to consider the latter.


End file.
